God's Ambassadors

By Christof Spies

Same God, same people?

A brief glance over time tempts me to wonder if God is ever-changing, or at least if he changes his rules of worship for his people. The Old Testament is full of blood, sacrifices and a strict legal system that intended to keep the Israelites on a worshipful path of obedience. God seems to delight in this and punishes (very harshly, one would think) those who wander from this way.

The New Testament and the coming of Jesus seems to paint a picture of love and grace for all who have faith in God. Priority is given to humanistic virtues like faith, love, patience and goodwill to all, over and above a legal system of  punishment for wrongdoing and reward for obedience.

Today, a glance at various church movements sows even more confusion. Catholics worship God through patron saints acting as intermediaries, traditional protestant churches seem stuck on grappling with traditional theological struggles over the nature of God and his people, while many charismatics seem to abandon the mind in a wild surge of "Spirit"-filled egocentric song.What are we to make 

out of all of this? Has God changed over time? Or does he expect something different from us today than he did 2000 years ago?

The Bible claims to be God-breathed (1 Tim 3:16) revelation of himself through human agents, so if indeed there is some stabilising truth to be found, this is where we can expect it. Comprising some 66 different books in various literary genres, our challenge is to spot the common thread – the BIG picture – throughout the work as a whole, if indeed there is such a thing.

In the Old Testament, the Israelites are selected by God as a chosen people, a treasured possession  Deuteronomy 7:6) without any deserving merit (v.7) in order to reveal himself to this people through a covenant of provision and blessing for faithful worship, and punishment for disobedience (v.10).

"Know therefore that the LORD your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a a thousand generations." (v.9) God intended for Israel to be a light, a witness to all the nations, so that the testimony of God's generosity towards his chosen people would attract all other peoples to come into this sphere of light also (see Isaiah 60).

History has it that Israel did not keep their side of the deal and God's punishment was to send them into exile to Babylon and Assyria. However, God does not abandon his covenant with his people. Through the prophet Jeremiah, a renewed covenant is prophesied whereby God will not only instruct, but also enable his law to be followed by his chosen people: 

"I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. 
And I will be their God, and they shall be my people … for they shall all 
know me, for I will forgive their iniquity and I will remember their sin no more" 
(Jeremiah 31:33-34)

This prophecy is fulfilled in the New Testament. God sends his son Jesus to be the light of the world (John 8:12) and to pay the penalty for the sins of all people, making forgiveness available to all who take hold of this offer. This opens up a new way of relating to God, not as sinners under judgement, but again as his chosen, loved people.

"God made him to be sin who knew no sin [i.e. Jesus], so that in him [Jesus] 

we might become the righteousness of God." (2 Corinthians 5:21)

With the sin-separation out of the way, the working of the Holy Spirit enables those who take hold of this offer to to draw closer to God with divine help, further fulfilling Jeremiah's prophecy. God bends our hearts towards him as we look to him, free from the veil of sin and the Mosaic Law:

"And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being

 transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For

 this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit" (2 Corinthians 3:18).

Paul also understood that all of this furthers God's original goal – to reconcile the World to himself

"In Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses 

against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are 

ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us." (2 Corinthians 5:19-20)

Where does that leave us today? God's plan has not changed, and the role of his people has not either. Through Jesus, God has accommodated our inability to fulfill the original terms of the covenant, but God's side of the deal is still valid! God still wants to reconcile all people to himself. He wants to gather us all into a people that knows Him and lives under his covenential favour and forgiveness.

Our role still is to be a light in the darkness (Isaiah 60), ambassadors of the new covenant (1 Corinthians 5). God has called each of us to know Him, to be a part of his chosen people, and to be ambassadors of his Kingdom. Knowing God today means following Jesus, who reconciles us to God by paying the penalty for our sins. Being a part of his chosen people means understanding our place as a Citizen (not a foreigner) of God's beloved people. And being an ambassador translates into a lifestyle that is driven by the purpose of reflecting God to the world. God has not changed his plans for the world. The better question to ask is if our identity, belonging and purpose aligns with His plans, or not? 

Laughing with...

By Spencer-rae

Today we find ourselves in a culture of individualism. Magazines, television and the internet teach us how to groom ourselves, what we should want and how we should behave. We idiotise ourselves in front of our televisions and computers, wasting our lives on excessive viewing, uploading and downloading. We are self appointed gods, believing that we deserve anything we can get ours hands on; from money, to sex, to fame. 

And when life becomes too boring or painful, we just get drunk and later use our drunken state as an excuse for our conduct. Science is the game we play, there is no other game. We are to believe only that which can be proved through rational empiricism and logical deduction. God is a social construct that makes us feel better about ourselves and broken lives. God is the object of our humour. God is a dinner table joke. At least until our lives fall apart and we start to pray.  We pray and negotiate and beg and plead and suddenly it's perfectly logical that there is a God out there. 

I was struck by a song by Regina Spektor recently. The song is called 'Laughing with'. Some of the lyrics are as follows:

No one laughs at God in a hospital
No one laughs at God in a war
No one’s laughing at God
When they’re starving or freezing or so very poor

No one laughs at God
When the doctor calls after some routine tests
No one’s laughing at God
When it’s gotten real late
And their kid’s not back from the party yet

No one laughs at God
When their airplane start to uncontrollably shake
No one’s laughing at God
When they see the one they love, hand in hand with someone else
And they hope that they’re mistaken

No one laughs at God
When the cops knock on their door
And they say we got some bad news, sir
No one’s laughing at God
When there’s a famine or fire or flood

But God can be funny
At a cocktail party when listening to a good God-themed joke, or
Or when the crazies say He hates us
And they get so red in the head you think they’re ‘bout to choke
God can be funny,
When told he’ll give you money if you just pray the right way
And when presented like a genie who does magic like Houdini
Or grants wishes like Jiminy Cricket and Santa Claus
God can be so hilarious
Ha ha
Ha ha

It's not my place, nor my mission to pin Regina to a definitive faith or worldview. But what I will say is that I believe her to be a teller of stories through song, and that in this particular story-song she has presented us with a narrative that speaks about a human trend we are more than familiar with. It's about the tendency for us to pray in times of trial and difficulty and our tendency to mock God when things are going well. It's easy to lose our faith when times are easy. It's just as easy to mock God in the times it seems we do not need him. But when our worlds fall, even the most skeptical among us may find himself on the floor pleading and crying out for God's help. Suddenly the 'flawed' logic of the Christian becomes plausible and the 'loony', the sanest man in town.

Here's some food for thought. I googled this song to find out some stuff about it. I ended up on an Atheist community site. There is a board where people post their thoughts about things like Regina's song. According to the site rules, it doesn't matter what you believe (or don't believe), as long as you show respect to the other people that are commenting. Most of the people are atheists, but they are expected to be tolerant for the sake of harmony. It's basically a community of people that share a similar set of beliefs (or non-beliefs). Natural enough, right? Community is just one of those things all of us do. Community is the norm. Interestingly enough, community remains one of the most consistent characteristics of our postmodern times, despite all the technology that allows us to live relatively independently. Ironically, we live in a culture where individualism is praised. So we try be individual in community. Most stuff has been done before and nothing is really new, but we can always consume. So we consume and define ourselves by our dress codes, interests and hobbies. Then we get together with people that share similar ideas about life, and go straight back to the community thing. We create and recreate community and then, almost as if by following a perfect sequence of events, we become defined by our religion or worldview. Truth is, none of us are all that different. In fact, despite all the science stuff we hear every day, most of us still believe in God or a 'higher power' and devote our lives to him/it. Those of us that don't, make a god out of our careers, lifestyles or philosophies. Now I am by no means saying that all beliefs are true; but what I am saying is that in a world where we are spoon-fed scientific explanations for almost everything, perhaps there is something to be said for the fact that so many still devote their entire lives to some or other transcendent being.

So these two things have always been, and still remain: The desire within us for a personal relationship with each other (community), and the desire within us for a personal relationship with God. In the Christian faith, both of these are are perfectly reconciled: the personal community of God within himself (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) and the personal community of ‘God with us’ through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Son, and the in-dwelling of the Holy Spirit. He gives us who believe, direct access to the father and our shared church community.  

Never have I seen or heard of anyone who in sickness, starvation, cold, poverty, anxiety, fear, disappointment or hurt, crying out for help or compassion from a philosophy, lifestyle, scientific explanation or principle. If they had, I doubt they would have received a satisfying answer. Even the skeptic is more likely to be angry at ‘The God’ (or a god) he claims not to believe in. And where does his right to be angry come from? Science? Was it also science that produced in him this notion of 'fairness' he believes himself entitled to? For the rest of us, let us consistently choose to put our faith in God and acknowledge our relationship with him and each other when we pray 'Our (community) Father (personal relationship)...'

Braai

We're having a braai! There will be fire and meat, and fire, and dancers mixed with fire! Did I mention fire?

Why Series - Happening Sept and Oct

Theology of Questioning found in Psalms

When last did you ask God a question? When last did you sit back while praying and let Him know where you were at? And I mean, where you are really at? Do you feel comfortable telling God your inmost thoughts and worries?

I really enjoy reading through the psalms, especially the ones by David. One of the main reasons I enjoy them is that he makes me feel a little bit normal again. He seems to struggle with the same stuff I struggle with, and yet he didn’t seem to mind voicing his opinions and struggles to God. He didn’t feel uncomfortable saying to God things like:

“Answer me quickly, Lord; my spirit fails” (Psalm 143)


“Hear my prayer, Lord; let my cry for help come to You…In my distress I groan aloud and am reduced to skin and bones” (Psalm 102)


“Why, Lord, do You reject me and hide Your face from me?” (Psalm 88)


“O God, do not remain silent; do not turn a deaf ear, do not stand aloof, O God” (Psalm 83)


Maybe you’ve read these verses or verses like them enough that you merely brush over them, and take them as part and parcel of the psalm. I know I often do. But recently I have been thinking – when last did my prayers sound like that? When last did I question God on something that was bugging me? When last did you? You see, as I read those verses, I realise two things that together make me appreciate David’s prayers so much more. Firstly, I think to myself – “My prayers don’t sound like that most of the time.” Now, that would be fine, if I the second thought didn’t slap me square in the face. The second thought as I read the Psalms is that I suddenly feel human again. I think: “Wow, David felt like that too!” I realise that David had the same doubts in his mind that I have, and that he messed up in his life in very similar ways to me. And so, reading his honest songs written to God, I feel human and understood.So, on the one side, I don’t pray like David does. And if I didn’t have any questions or doubts like he so obviously did, that would make sense. But, on the other side, I do have those doubts. I do feel at times as if I have been abandoned or as if God is turning a deaf ear.

The humbling lesson for me as I read the psalms is this: Maybe I don’t feel close enough to God to voice my real thoughts and opinions. I feel this random sense of obligation as a Christian to cover up my feelings of doubt that hit me every now and then. I want to encourage you to take the time to go back to each of those quotes at the top of this post and grab your bible and read through the psalm. The whole psalm. You see, when I take the verses on their own, they paint a stick figure outline of a guy who had doubts and wasn’t afraid to voice them. Don’t stop there though – see what happens to David as he bravely voices his doubts: His faith and love for God grows. Check it out – no matter where David starts in his songs, he almost always finishes by praising and worshipping God.

This paradox is pretty cool, and I enjoy it every time I have the guts to question God on something. He meets me where I am at and makes me feel more loved and more secure in Him than before. But this only comes when I step out and voice what I am already secretly thinking anyway. My point is this: Don’t be afraid to question God if you have questions for Him. As David did, do it with humility; but don’t ignore your thoughts and questions. Bring them to Him bravely and humbly and I guarantee You He will meet you where you are. He who created the universe is not afraid of the questions of a human being like me.


Stu

The Kingdom of Heaven

A while back, my 9-year-old son and 7-year-old daughter were memorizing the Lord’s Prayer. I asked them what they thought, “Your kingdom come” meant. They were stumped for a moment. Then I took a step back and asked a preliminary question, “What does a king do?” That was a bit easier. “He rules.” Then it dawned on them. “’Your kingdom come’ means that we want God’s rule to come.” 

That’s it. To be in God’s kingdom means that what he says goes. His way or the highway. He commands, we comply. He decrees, we agree. His way on earth as it is in heaven. God is busy ruling and reigning – in and outside of the church. And our aim is to get busy spreading his rule and reign – through the gospel, through social action, through our testimonies, through our good deeds, through our parenting, and on and on. 

Would you say you participate in God’s kingdom? Does he rule and reign in every area of your thoughts? In every area of your deeds? In every area of your decisions? In every area of your relationships?

Isaiah prophesies about Jesus, “Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this” (Isaiah 9:7).

Are you a part of increasing his Kingdom? Jesus was busy demonstrating his rule and reign through everyone he came in contact with – healing, testifying, loving, teaching and more. If you were to participate more in God’s kingdom, what would that mean for you?


Drew

Why Do Bad Things Happen?

SICKNESS. DISEASE. MURDER. RAPE. DISASTER. THEFT. PREMATURE DEATH. INJUSTICE. ABUSE.

WHY DO BAD THINGS HAPPEN?

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If you need an answer, be at Unit 11 on Sunday - 7pm. We're watching a DVD series over the next few weeks by PJ Smyth from God First church, in Jozi- 'Why do Bad Things Happen?'